Around 4,000 pilots at the German airline Lufthansa have suspended their strike and will resume talks, the two sides said this evening in a joint statement.
The agreement ends a one-day walkout that grounded nearly half the carrier's flights. The pilots had planned a four-day strike.
Meanwhile, cabin crew at rival British Airways voted a strike of their own but did not set a firm date for the action.
In France, an air traffic controller's strike is set for Tuesday.
Some 4,000 German Lufthansa pilots stopped work today, causing travel chaos and leaving thousands of passengers around the world stranded, on concerns the company could try to cut staff costs by shifting jobs to foreign units.
Worst hit were Lufthansa's Frankfurt hub, Europe's third biggest airport, and Munich. Also affected were Lufthansa Cargo, one of the world's biggest freight carriers, and the firm's low-cost subsidiary Germanwings.
Airlines are reeling from the aviation industry's worst year ever, in which demand dropped faster than capacity could be cut, but workers are becoming increasingly impatient with pressure from employers to tighten their belts.
Europe's national flag carriers have been trying to cut their costs as they lose market share to low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet whose no-frills offers lure customers looking to cut their travel spending.
Lufthansa pilots want job security
One of the concerns raised by Lufthansa employees is to do with pay. The pilots have offered to forego increases if in return they get some control over which routes or pilot jobs are transferred to other group airlines.
Lufthansa earlier rejected that demand, saying it would require ceding control over parts of business strategy to its workers and the union.
Lufthansa said a four day pilots' strike would have cost it about €100m, in addition to lost ticket sales and possible damage to its reputation. At least 3,200 flights out of a total 7,200 would have been grounded over the four-day period.
Lufthansa is trying to cut €1 billion of costs by 2011, to become more lean while expanding abroad.
Last September, Lufthansa completed a shopping spree adding Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and BMI to its stable of carriers. It also started Lufthansa Italia.
BA cabin crew dispute cuts
British Airways wants three quarters of its crew to accept a pay freeze this year, and for 3,000 staff to switch to part-time working, along with a reduction in onboard crewing levels from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from London Heathrow.
BA cabin crew voted in favour of a strike to protest the cost cuts, the second attempt at industrial action after a court forced the workers to abandon plans for a 12-day strike over Christmas that would have left a million travellers stranded.
Union Unite said no dates for the work stoppage had been set but reiterated that crew would not strike over the Easter holiday at the start of April.
British Airways said the decision to strike was 'completely unjustified' and vowed that it would 'not allow Unite to ruin this company'.
French controllers on strike from tomorrow
Adding to the upheaval, French air traffic controllers plan go on strike for five days from Tuesday to protest Europe's single sky policy, causing flight cancellations at the Orly and Paris-Charles de Gaulle airports.
